Is Roberto Soldado the main problem for Spurs? We review the weekend and pick our star team.
Team of the Week
Following his freak, early goal against Southampton, it is impossible to ignore Stoke City's Asmir Begovic. The shot-stopper would be behind a back four of Tottenham Hotspur pair Jan Vertonghen, playing out of position at left-back as he did against Everton, and Michael Dawson while Hull City centre-back Curtis Davies and Newcastle United right-back Mathieu Debuchy complete the defence.
Manchester United's Adnan Januzaj continued his excellent season to take his place on the left of midfield as Cardiff City's Gary Medel, who had a pass completion rate of 96.5 per cent against Swansea City, and Arsenal's Aaron Ramsey fill the central positions. David Silva has to play a little bit out of position on the right but cannot be ignored after helping to demolish Norwich City.
In attack, Sergio Aguero has now scored six goals in four starts against Norwich. His strike partner would be Robin van Persie, who became the highest scoring Dutchman in the Premier League, after his goal and assist for Wayne Rooney added to their deadly partnership in Manchester United's win over Fulham.
One of the principal weapons in a race for the top four is the possession of a striker who can make something happen out of nothing, can take a dreary 0-0 and turn it into a victory. In Roberto Soldado, Tottenham Hotspur currently have a striker who seems at best quiet and at worst wilfully ineffective and disinterested. At Everton on Sunday, an interesting comparison could be drawn. Neither side's most obvious goalscoring threat, Soldado or Romelu Lukaku, performed particularly impressively. Lukaku was dispossessed more times (20) than any other player in a display that brought just one shot, off target.
However, Lukaku provided in other ways, and during a first half in which Everton were poor for large periods, often pinned back through their own sloppiness, he acted as a defensive presence - no other player on the pitch made more clearances. Furthermore, with his five goals so far this season, Lukaku has already displayed his effectiveness. Finally, this is a striker still six months short of his 21st birthday, and is on loan. In contrast, Soldado did not even evidently attempt to get involved. No other player who lasted the duration had fewer touches of the ball, and the Spaniard's afternoon comprised of two shots, both off target. The forward was also involved in four duels for the ball, all of which he lost. Soldado's form is a major factor in Spurs having scored only nine league goals so far this season.
As expected following a series of high-profile errors, Joe Hart was dropped from Manchester City's team for Saturday's game against Norwich. And, hey, Joe, what do you know, Manuel Pellegrini's team went on to win 7-0. Hart is in one of those quirks of fate in football which sees the game really kick you when you are down. As a side note, Manchester City have now scored 28 goals in the
